Relief for champion Roeselare after intense title final: “Was an unimaginable rollercoaster”

On paper, the dominance seems infallible, but Roeselare had to fight extremely hard for its 4th title in a row. The West Flemish won that triumph in the Maaseik hall of all places. That a few days after a serious mental blow at home. “This year we had to dig deep,” says experienced corner forward Matthijs Verhanneman.

“This really means a lot!”

Even with an experienced player like Matthijs Verhanneman, the exciting title final still resonates. “It’s been an unimaginable rollercoaster these past 10 days.”

“We started here in Maaseik where we lost without a chance. Maaseik was simply better then. Then we turn things around in the series, but they do the same. The fact that we finish it here is great.”

“We might have suffered less from fatigue,” thinks the 35-year-old corner attacker. “For me it is an anniversary edition, my tenth title. One to frame.”

If you win the title smoothly like last year, the relief will be less. But this year we had to dig deep.

Matthijs Verhanneman

Unlike last year, Roeselare did not run over his opponent in the title final.

“There was a lot of pressure involved, because we missed the opportunity to finish it at home,” says coach Steven Vanmedegael.

“It was a very crazy final with top-level competitions every two days. It was fun for the spectators, but also for us.”

And that is precisely why you never get used to winning. “If you win the title smoothly like last year, the relief is less great. But this year we had to dig deep, it was unimaginable,” concludes Verhanneman, who also has praise for Maaseik.

“Congratulations to Maaseik and his trainer. Their evolution was incredible. There was a solid whole at the end. We had our work cut out for it.”

Things went well for Roeselare in the regular competition.

On paper, at least. Because trainer Steven Vanmedegael had to do a lot of thinking.

“It was a difficult year in which we had to tinker a lot,” the coach shares. “Our opponent (Diego Gonazlez, ed.) did not get much work due to a lot of bad luck.”

“We had to look for solutions as a team, first with Simon Plaskie and then with Seppe Rotty who did a great job.”

It is therefore not entirely coincidental that he hits the match ball against the ground.